For a Girl Named Padmé
by Knight-Ander
Summary: In a universe where Qui-Gon never freed him, a bounty hunter named Anakin Skywalker seeks the aid of Naboo's senator to help him find a girl named Padmé.


**For a Girl Named Padmé**

She was awake but she didn't know why, it happened so suddenly. Was it a noise or a change in the light? What was it? Her eyes were wide open, quickly adjusting to the semi-darkness, but her ears discovered the answer to her question first.

Someone was in her room, she could hear him breathing.

She made the first move, raising herself on her elbow and staring into the dark corner where the intruder might have been. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The intruder took a half-step out of the shadows, the light coming through her partially-shaded window illuminating the left-side of his tanned face. He hesitated briefly before speaking. "I'm Anakin Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you."

If he had said any other name his hesitation would have made her doubt his motivation, but… "You're who?" Anakin Skywalker? She hadn't heard that name in nearly a decade, something she thought lost in the deep recesses of her memory. This couldn't be that brave little boy from Tatooine, could it?

"Senator, you must leave this place immediately." His voice was a frantic whisper. "Your life is in grave danger."

"That's why I have guards," she replied, her voice slightly louder than his whisper. "How did you get past them?"

He took a step back from her bedside, only just realizing he had gotten that close to her. He opened his mouth to speak, but words would not come. He turned his head in the direction of the hallway outside her rooms. That gesture and his silence were all the words she needed to hear. She threw the covers from her bed. "Don't," was all he was able to say as she rushed past him.

The senator from Naboo gasped at the sight of her handmaiden lying limp on the floor. "Cordé!" Gasping the handmaiden's name, she moved to kneel beside the body.

"Careful," Anakin said as he grabbed her arm. "The blood."

She shrugged off his hand, only then noticing the dark stain in the carpet. She straightened slowly, feeling an unnerving sliminess beneath her feet. "How could you?" she said, her eyes still on the dead girl, her hands clenching and unclench.

"I didn't do it," he admitted calmly. "You were meant to find this in the morning. It's a message."

She turned her head away, but kept her eyes lowered. "I don't respond well to threats."

"Then that leaves them with no choice," he said. "They _will_ kill you next time. You must leave now."

She lifted her eyes, glassy with tears. "And what makes you think you're the one to rescue me? Why are you here?"

He hesitated again before speaking, a look of uncertainty crossing his face. "I haven't much time to explain," he finally said, leading her back to her bedroom. He pointed at her walk-in closet. "Change, grab a bag, and stuff it with some clothes."

His voice was so authoritative that she followed his instructions without thinking. "Should I pack for any particular season?"

"What?" The question puzzled him; she could see the confusion on his face.

"Are we going anywhere warm or cold? Will we be staying in the city?" She offered. Anakin seemed distracted, as if he hadn't thought this rescue through very well.

"I, I haven't decided yet, Your Highness," he admitted, glancing back toward the darkened hallway. "Just pick something comfortable and for all-seasons. We won't go anywhere with extreme weather conditions."

She nodded as she stepped further into the closet's shadows to disrobe. He had addressed her as "Your Highness." No one had called her that in almost six years. "I'm not a queen anymore, Anakin," she said to his back. She was somewhat surprised he was chivalrous enough to look away without her asking him to.

"I'm sorry, Senator," he said as he peered between the shades of the window. "Your alarms have been dismantled, but the privacy-shroud is still working, which will help. Don't even think about slipping out onto the veranda, though."

Her eyes snapped up. She was just considering that option. "The assassins will be watching that exit?"

"Exactly," he nodded, his back still turned to her. "I have a better route in mind."

She was disconcerted by that news and disappointed that she hadn't thought of that possibility earlier. She evaluated other alternatives in her mind as she manipulated the final clasp on her outfit. _What does this boy have in mind?_ she thought, searching for pins to hold back her hair. This was certainly a curious way to kidnap someone.

"Is this valuable?"

"What?" she said, throwing a violet cloak around her shoulders.

"This," he said, lifting a stone orb from its display stand.

Amidala's expression grew hard. "Yes, but mainly for sentimental reasons."

Anakin tilted his head as he tried to examine it in the dim light. "It looks expensive. Where did you get it?"

"It was given to me by the Gungan leader Boss Nass for my service during the Battle of Ottah Gauma." The fact that he obviously wanted to steal the orb angered her. "Jar-Jar Binks died saving my life at that battle," she added before turning to retrieve her bag.

Her back turned to him, she was unable to witness him hesitate for several seconds. "Qui-Gon's friend," he whispered before dropping the orb into an inner-pocket of his bulky cloak. "We'll take your R2-unit, as well," his said loud enough for her to hear him.

Returning to the room, she was surprised that she had yet to realize that Artoo-Detoo had remained silent this whole time. "Artoo?"

"Restraining-bolt," Anakin said, answering question on her face. He pulled a remote from his pocket. "I installed it just before you woke."

She grimaced. "Take it off, it won't be necessary."

"Later," he said, pressing a button and activating the droid. The astromech came to life startled and confused. "I know this is a surprise, but follow my instructions and nobody gets hurt," Anakin said, brandishing the restraining-bolt's control at the droid. "Understand."

The droid turned its photo-receptor toward the senator. "It's all right, Artoo. This is Anakin Skywalker. He says he's here to help us. Do you remember Anakin?"

Artoo turned back to the tall young man and whistled a doubtful sounding affirmative. "Nice," Anakin said, taking the senator's bag from her shoulder without asking. "Now, quietly, let's make our way to the turbo-lift."

She kept her head up as she followed the droid into the darkened living space, ignoring his mournful whistles as he skirted the bodies of her handmaidens and guards. She didn't want her final memories of them to be so heartbreaking, they deserved that much. "I'm trusting my fate in your hands once again, Anakin," she said as the turbo-lift doors opened. "This had better work."

"It will," he said, moving to position himself between her and the lift's window. "Stand close to me. We can't allow them to think there's more than one person in here."

Standing as close as she dared, she turned her back to him to face the door. "If I may-."

"Quiet," he whispered, taking a half-step closer to her as the turbo-lift began to descend. "Listening devices."

She nodded understanding; clearly Anakin had actually put a certain amount of thought into this escape plan of his, even going so far as to deactivate Artoo while the lift descended. But what confused her most was why Anakin was here in the first place? How did he get off of Tatooine? How did he know the assassins' plans so well? Where was his mother? She tried to push away the questions as the turbo-lift's journey continued, but her curiosity was nearly strangling her. She could feel his breath tickle her hair, and the unanticipated thrill she got from it caused her heart to skip several beats. This was starting to sound like some romantic holo-adventure, and she had no idea how she got into it or how to get out.

After several agonizing minutes, the turbo-lift finally stopped at the parking-garage. Anakin quickly slipped around her so that he could enter the dimly-lit room first. Leading her to a pile of crates stacked near the turbo-lift, he whispered, "Stay here. I'll go find us some transportation."

She peaked over the crates to find her speeder. "Why don't we just take-."

"It's gone," he told her, nodding to an empty slot. "I think your captain and one of your handmaidens took it earlier."

She grabbed his sleeve as he started to move. "We should wait for them to return."

"Do you know when that will be?" he asked, his face unreadable in the shadows that hid it. He waited only a second before slipping out of her grasp.

"This is bordering on madness," she whispered to Artoo who responded with an agreeable tweak. The young senator watched as Anakin moved with celerity between the parked vehicles before losing sight of him. After what seemed like several minutes, she left her hiding spot and went in search of him. "I'll be careful," she said in response to Artoo's soft, warning whistle.

Keeping herself low, she moved past several vehicles, most of them gaudy contraptions that the more grandiose senators drove while in the capital, before spotting Anakin who was studying what appeared to be a service vehicle. She ducked behind one of the sportier crafts and frowned when she noticed he was talking to someone on a comlink. He hadn't mentioned a partner. She moved around the sporty craft, trying to catch a piece of the conversation and her heart stopped when she discovered she lost sight of him. Panic gripped her heart for a second then squeezed when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.

"You moved," Anakin said.

"Sorry," she answered, surprised and relieved that he didn't have to peel her off the ceiling. "There are some things I cannot do. Waiting is one of them."

His grunt was disbelieving but soft. "I'm guessing taking orders is one of those things, too."

She tried to glare at him. "You must have that confused with `Strong Suggestions'. I pride myself on not following any directions I've been strongly suggested to follow. I believe this entire incident is a clear example, don't you agree Anakin?"

He was silent for several seconds before answering in a whisper. "Yes, yes I do."

She nodded, pleased that he agreed with her and surprised with herself that she was pleased with his agreement. "Did you find something we could use?" She asked, hoping the darkness was able to hide the sudden rush of blood to her cheeks.

"Yes, yes I did," he said, turning his attention to the remote's call-button. "We'll give Artoo a minute to get here first."

"You were talking to someone," she said as they watched the droid weave his way through the collection of speeders.

"There's only you and me here; I checked."

Her frown returned. "There is another thing I cannot do, Anakin. I cannot accept being lied to. You're better than that."

His head snapped back in her direction, the lights of a passing vehicle briefly exposing unexpected surprise on his face before it fell back into shadow. "You're very observant, Senator," was all he said to her before turning his attention to the approaching astromech droid. "Into the back of this one, Artoo; you should fit just fine."

The young senator glowered at Anakin as she circled the speeder. "And I cannot abide being ignored," she declared, opening the passenger-side door and throwing her bag onto the seat.

"That's a problem we all have to deal with in our lives," Anakin told her as he secured Artoo, patting him on his domed-head. "It may not be comfortable, but it's only temporary, so don't worry too much, okay?" The droid whistled a response that sounded like agreement to Anakin.

"Are you going to tie me up as well?"

"Of course not," Anakin smiled as he got behind the speeder's controls. "Just stay low and out of sight. Oh, and I'm going to put your bag on top of you, just to make sure you're not seen, okay?"

"Do I have a choice?" she grumbled, squatting as far down as she could.

"Well, yes," Anakin said as he took the canopy off the speeder. "But this is the only sensible option."

"It is?" she said, but her question was lost in the roar of the engine coming to life.

He looked down at her and smiled as he pulled his comlink from an inside pocket. "We'll be out of here soon, I've just got to check in with someone first."

So he _was_ talking to someone. He wasn't denying her question when she asked it earlier, only evading it. She wasn't sure if she should be happy that she was right or mad that he didn't answer her question the way she expected it to be answered.

"All clear?" he said into the device, but if there was a reply, she didn't hear it. Anakin revved the engines and shot the speeder through the garage's security and privacy shield, away from the apartment building and into the cacophony that was Coruscant. "We'll be safe in a few minutes," he shouted over the rushing wind that blew through his hair.

Despite the wind and engines and the ambient noise of the city, the sound of a nearby violent explosion could be easily heard. She poked her head out from her hiding place to visually confirm what her ears had already told her. The high-rise apartment building was now displaying a flaming crown on its head. The entire floor where her apartment had been was gone. "What in the name of the Saturated Core…."

Anakin grimaced after looking over his shoulder to survey the destruction. "Didn't see that one coming."

"The only reason I should give you any credit for this so-called escape plan of yours is the fact that I'm still alive," she said, shaking her head in a mix of fury, frustration, and disbelief. "Are you _sure_ you know what you're doing?"

Her young rescuer sent the speeder into a steep dive. "Would you believe me if I said 'Yes'?"

She continued to shake her head. "Probably not."

He exhaled as he banked the craft into a sharp turn and into traffic. "Then that makes two of us."

"Are we going far?" she asked. "Emergency crews should be arriving at any second. We'll be safe with them. We have to assure the surviving members of my staff that I'm alive."

Anakin grimaced as they flew deeper and deeper into lower levels of traffic. "Not quite yet. Besides, I hear that there are advantages to having people think you're dead."

"But surely the assassins would have fled the scene by know." She tried to raise herself out of hiding only to have Anakin reach over and push her back down.

"Not these guys. They're a very thorough group."

"Then they probably would have notice us-."

"Me," he interrupted.

"Then they probably would have notice _you_ fleeing the scene just before the explosion, don't you agree?"

"I hope they did."

She was baffled by his answer. "You wanted to be seen?"

He shrugged, trying to pay more attention to his flying than the woman hiding under the passenger-seat. He knew this part was going to be tricky, he had just hoped he could have put it off a little bit longer. "Yeah, because I work for them," he admitted after a furtive glance.

Stunned by his confession, her response was swift. "You work for them?" She was now sitting fully upright in the passenger-seat. "So this is actually some sort of elaborate kidnapping plot, right?"

He glanced at her with a half-cocked eyebrow. "I thought we already discussed this. I'm not that clever, remember?"

She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "You've definitely come a long way from being that daring young boy on Tatooine, Anakin. You are by far the worst kidnapper I've ever encountered."

"Yeah, well, we'll talk about that a little later," he said, pulling back on the speeder's throttle as they entered slower traffic in a busy portion of what appeared to be the entertainment district.

"Yes we will, shortly after you drop me off at that security station over there," she stated.

Anakin ignored the station as they slid pass it. "They've got someone on the inside of Coruscant's security network; they'll be down on us in seconds. We'll be at my ship in a few more blocks anyway. See there's the docking station just ahead."

"I have contacts in the Jedi Order. I'm sure they'll be able to keep me safe," she argued.

"Would you believe me if I told you that they have a Jedi working with them as well?" he asked as they pulled into one of the docking ports and approached a small freighter, the loading-ramp of the rear cargo-hold slowly lowering.

"Absolutely not!" Senator Amidala exclaimed. "No Jedi would involve himself with an assassination plan to kill a Republic Senator."

Anakin carefully guided the speeder into a small open space of the tightly packed hold. "Well you certainly have a higher opinion of the Jedi than they deserve," he said, shutting down the engines. "Threepio? Raise the ramp."

"Yes, master," a mechanical voice answered from the hatchway leading further into the ship. "You didn't mention that we were bringing on passengers, sir?"

"My apologies, Threepio. May I introduce Artoo-Detoo, whom you've already met, and Senator Amidala of Naboo."

A bronze-plated protocol droid approached the newcomers. "Well I must say this does come as a surprise. It is a pleasure to see you again, Artoo," Threepio told the droid. Artoo responded with a friendly-sounding greeting. "And you, Senator, it is a pleasure to meet you as-." Threepio tilted his head in a gesture of sudden surprise. "But master Anakin, this is-."

Threepio was interrupted again by a high-pitched, rhythmic alarm coming from his chest. "Incoming call, sir. It's from our employer."

Anakin nodded understanding. "I'll take it in the cockpit. See that our guests are made comfortable in the lounge," he said, leaving the senator and the two droids in his wake.

"Of course, sir," he said to Anakin's back before turning to address the others. "Will you follow me please?"

The senator raised an eyebrow and a corner of her lips as she watched Anakin walk away, a sudden realization dawned upon her. "Of course, Threepio. And may I say that it is a pleasure to see you again and in good… shape."

"Oh thank you, Miss Padmé," he said as he led her from the hold. "The feeling is, of course, mutual, although I think we both would have preferred to meet again under better circumstances."

Padmé suppressed a laugh. "Circumstances weren't exactly good the first time we met, either."

Meanwhile, Anakin sealed the cockpit's hatch for privacy before sitting down at the communications station. "This line is secure."

"Good job, Anakin," a gravely voice said through the speaker. "A little flamboyant for my tastes, but a good job none the less."

"I made a mistake, Jango," Anakin said as he checked a display at the weapons station. "I left some evidence behind, that's why I had Threepio send a pair of torpedoes into the building." He grimaced at the display. "My last two torpedoes. You won't know where I could get some more cheap, would you?"

"Our employer isn't going to be happy with the size of the mess you made. He probably won't want to pay the full sum of our deal."

"Only a fool would let him get away with that," Anakin said, his voice grim.

Jango chuckled. "Well then, I'd say it's a very good thing I'm not a fool, eh?"

Anakin couldn't help but smile. "That's a very good thing."

The voice on the other end turned serious. "Don't worry, kid. Your share will be enough to buy your mother's freedom, I promise."

Anakin's voice grew soft. "Thank you."

"Right now, you better make like a _grizzinian_-bat and fly. I'll contact you again at the prearranged time and place. Fett out."

"Master Anakin will find that quite helpful, Artoo," Threepio was standing over the smaller droid who was plugged into the ship's power-processor when Anakin entered the lounge.

"What would I find helpful, Threepio?" he asked after a quick glance at the senator ensconced behind the lounge's lone table, a smile on her face that was difficult to interpret.

"Artoo has figured out a way to double the hyperdrive's output while halving its consumption." Threepio announced.

"Fantastic! Have him get to work on it while you go ahead and fire-up the engines and get us out of here."

"Of course, sir," Threepio nodded. "Our destination, sir?"

Anakin glanced at the senator and her unnerving smile before returning his attention to the droid. "The prearranged destination, of course."

"Now that we're alone," the senator said once Threepio left. "Would you mind explaining exactly why I'm here, Anakin?"

"I told you, this is for your protection."

"So is this," she said, pulling a small but deadly looking blaster from her lap and aiming it at Anakin.

Anakin froze. "Are you questioning my motives?"

"Somewhat," she answered, keeping the blaster leveled at his chest. "You work for the assassins? Really?"

"Yes."

"Then what were you doing in my apartment?"

"Cleaning up, doing specialty work."

The doubt on her face was very clear. "Specialty work?"

"First the killers, then the thief," he explained. "It was supposed to look like a robbery."

"You're the thief."

"Yes, I'm the thief," he confirmed. "Your droid, that expensive looking rock, stuff like that."

She sighed. "So everyone is dead but me when you arrive to steal my droid, an expensive looking rock, and stuff like that, correct?"

He was starting to see his story unravel. "Yes," he said weakly.

"And you were supposed to do what if I had caught you? Run?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, probably."

"But you didn't," she said, her face going stern. "Why?"

"Because, I…." He closed his eyes, searching for words he didn't want to say; words that revealed the truth.

"It would be better for all of us if you told me the truth, Anakin."

His eyes snapped opened. "I didn't kill you because I was hoping you could help me find someone."

She raised her chin, her grip on the blaster becoming tighter. "_You_ were suppose to kill me?" Her fear was slowly boiling into anger. "And why didn't you?"

"I thought you could help me find someone. If I murdered you she would have hated me and hiding the fact from her would have killed me with guilt," he stated. "I fell in love with her the first time I saw her on Tatooine when she came asking for my help."

She swallowed as Anakin's story became clear. "You didn't kill me because of her? Because you're looking for her?"

Anakin nodded, his expression growing serious. "I'm looking for a girl named Padmé and I'm hoping you could help me find her."

Her mouth hanging open, Senator Amidala had trouble finding words to say. "Well then it's a very good thing you didn't kill me."

_To be continued?_


End file.
